News

Coordination call with TB people’s country chapters and Stop TB Partnership

On March 5, 2025, we held an insightful online coordination call with our country chapters and Stop TB Partnership to discuss the impact of political changes on health policies and our shared goals for the future. The meeting was filled with determination and solidarity as we navigated these challenging times together.

Key Highlights: 

TB people community coordinator Olya Klymenko initiated the meeting by highlighting the need for unity and resilience among the TB People community as they navigate difficult circumstances. She presented the agenda focused on future plans and actions, particularly for March, and thanked the StopTB team for their support. “Political transitions can devalue ongoing efforts in health care, but we must align our messages and policies to effectively communicate our agenda. There is still an audience that values our programs, and support can be found.”

 Stop TB Partnership’s executive director Lucica Ditiu shared an update on our funding situation: “We are in a waiting phase for further clarification on funding access. It’s crucial to demonstrate the contributions of civil society to the TB response, especially to our U.S. stakeholders.”We also discussed the importance of preparing for World TB Day and maintaining our advocacy efforts. As Lucica Ditiu put it: “We need to showcase the life-saving work of our grantees and ensure that the value of our work is communicated effectively, despite the challenges posed by the current political climate.” Additional Points Discussed: 

TB Response and Funding Challenges: Lucica Ditiu emphasized the need to organize meetings to align agendas and advocate for continued support, while acknowledging the challenges posed by the current political climate. 

Updates on TBpeople Initiatives and Challenges: Lucica Ditiu shared critical updates on the status of TBpeople initiatives, stressing the importance of keeping the community informed. Olya Klymenko expressed concerns about the emotional toll of recent political decisions on the community and the risk to vital programs. 

Strategies for Strengthening Local TB Activism and Funding: Pervaiz Tufail (TB people Pakistan) highlighted the reliance on a limited number of donors for TB eradication and called for increased local activism and government engagement to secure independent funding. Olya Klymenko outlined plans for strategic appeals to governments and donors. 

Resource Mobilization Strategies for TB Initiatives: Tariro Kutadza (Tbpeople Zim) shared her frustrations about the difficulties in securing funding for TB initiatives in Zimbabwe and suggested creating a resource mobilization acceleration plan. 

TB Program Challenges and Community Engagement: Stephen Anguva Shikoli (Kenia) highlighted the significant challenges the TB program is facing, particularly due to funding cuts, and emphasized the need for community engagement to address these gaps. 

Strategies for Engaging Donors and Governments: Olya Klymenko outlined a dual approach to engage donor countries and national governments about TB support, with practical recommendations from James Malar on drafting effective funding requests. 

Thank you to everyone who participated and for your continued dedication to the fight against tuberculosis. Together, we remain visible and strong in our advocacy efforts.

Last week, the Board of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria held a meeting. As noted in the press release https://cutt.ly/4eZLjl1w, “At the meeting held in Lilongwe (Malawi), the Global Fund adopted an unprecedented set of decisions to strengthen resilience and prepare for the eighth replenishment. Policy changes were made to increase the share of funding for TB and malaria, as well as to support sustainable progress in combating these diseases.”

We do not share the joy expressed in the press release. In our opinion, by talking about increasing the share of funding for TB and malaria, the Global Fund is presenting wishful thinking as reality. For TB funding to actually increase, the Global Fund needs to replenish its funds by at least $13.5 billion, which is highly unlikely. The last time the Global Fund tied the share of TB funding to the outcomes of fund replenishment, TB received 18.6% instead of 18%.”Unfortunately, the Global Fund remained deaf to the demands of the global TB community to increase funding to 33%. At best, TB will receive 25%, which still will not be a fair distribution of the Global Fund’s resources among the three diseases. However, under the formula adopted by the Board, TB has as much chance of getting 25% as I have of walking out and meeting Marilyn Monroe,” noted Timur Abdullaev, Board Member of TBpeople Global. “We are unlikely to see a fair distribution of the Global Fund’s resources among the three diseases until the Global Fund Board ensures meaningful representation and participation of the TB community. This requires two things: on the one hand, TB stakeholders must be meaningfully represented in all sectors and delegations of the Board, and on the other hand, the Board must allocate separate seats for communities affected by the three diseases and key and vulnerable populations. After all, if this is the approach the Global Fund promotes at the country level (where the country coordinating mechanism must include representatives of all affected communities and key populations), why does one person on the Global Fund Board represent people living with HIV, people affected by TB, people affected by malaria, and key and vulnerable populations?” added Timur.
It is with great sadness that we announce an irreparable loss to the entire TB community — the founder of Partners In Health, a Man Who Would Cure the World and an honorary member of TBpeople Dr. Paul Farmer, unexpectedly passed away today in his sleep while in Rwanda.Dr. Farmer was 62 years old.We join in the words of sorrow and condolence from all corners of the world where Paul Farmer was known and appreciated!There is an excellent book about him, “Mountains Beyond the Mountains.” I love it very much. In the meantime, you can read about the book – and about Dr. Farmer on “Such Things”

Read Here

Project “Pathways for infection and prevention of tuberculosis and other infectious diseases” in Azerbaijan

From 01.02.2022 to 01.05.2022 in Baku (Azerbaijan) the country partner of global network TB PEOPLE, NGO “Veremsiz Heleja Dogri” (Towards a Tuberculosis Free Future) is implementing the project “Routes of infection and prevention of tuberculosis and other infectious diseases” financed by the State Support Agency for Non-governmental organizations. 

In the course of the project, educational activities were conducted among TB patients under treatment at TB dispensaries. Visits were made to families of TB patients receiving outpatient TB treatment at home. 

During the event, we discussed ways of transmission of infectious diseases and their prevention with patients, provided them with valuable advice on infection control, distributed educational materials published as part of the project to patients, and sent thematic posters to the hospital. An animation and educational video was shown and patients’ appeals on social security were heard. 

The organization is preparing a package of recommendations to the governing body of TABIB (Association for Management of Medical Territorial Units). We express our gratitude to the Agency of State Support to Non-Governmental Organizations of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

TBpeople Global is among 31 organizations worldwide to receive a Challenge Facility (CFCS) for 2020.

Fantastic news! The Stop TB Partnership has announced the successful grantees for the Challenge Facility for Civil Society (CFCS) 2020! TBpeople Global, as well as our country chapter in Ukraine, TBpeopleUkraine, are among the 31 organizations from 13 countries and six regions who will receive grants ranging from USD 20,000 to USD 100,000.

CFCS grants will support community and civil society actors at national, regional and global levels to implement key actions to achieve the targets and commitments made in the UN High-Level Meeting Declaration on TB. In recent years many countries identified community, rights, and gender (CRG) barriers faced by TB affected communities. CFCS grants will cover a range of activities to address these barriers.

Congratulations to all grantees!

TBpeople are the proud recipient of the Stop TB Partnership’s Empowering Community Voices 2019 Award.

The 50th World Conference on Lung Health was full of events and highlights, but one thing stands out for TBpeople: our very first award!

At the Human Rights Awards Dinner, TBpeople received the Stop TB Partnership’s Empowering Community Voices 2019 Award for “dedication to TB survivors and people affected by TB through community mobilization and human rights activism”.

It was so exciting to see how many of our members and friends rushed to the stage when the award was announced! But no matter how much we appreciate that our efforts were recognized, we are aware of the tremendous amount of work that needs to be done to strengthen the community of people affected by TB and turn it into a truly global movement, and to make sure that rights of people affected by TB become a reality.